Preparation and photocatalytic performance of TiO₂-RGO-CuO/Fe₂O₃ ternary composite photocatalyst by solvothermal method

In this work, an one-step solvothermal synthesis method is used to prepare TiO₂-reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-CuO/Fe₂O₃ ternary composite photocatalysts with TiO₂ and CuO/Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles coated RGO, while the structures and photocatalytic performance of these synthesized ternary composite photocatalysts are studied. It is found that Cu²⁺ and Fe³⁺ are substituted for Ti⁴⁺ into the crystal lattice of anatase TiO₂ in these prepared ternary composite photocatalysts. TiO₂ and CuO/Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles are uniformly coated on the surface of RGO and closely contact with each other. The Cu/Fe doping has obviously improved the absorption ability on the visible light, and the bandgap of the ternary composite can be reduced. Under visible light irradiation, by increasing the Cu/Fe doping amount, the photocatalytic performance can be improved until the Cu and Fe contents reached 0.075 wt.% and 0.1 wt.%, respectively. The prepared products can be reused for eight cycles to degrade the methyl orange solution, and it retains over 93% photocatalytic efficiency.